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Technology

Smog-busting paint will be a breath of fresh air

By Jenny Hogan

7 February 2004

A PAINT that soaks up some of the most noxious gases from vehicle exhausts goes on sale in Europe next month. Its makers hope it will give architects and town planners a new weapon in the fight against pollution.

Called Ecopaint, the substance is designed to reduce levels of the nitrogen oxides, collectively known as the NOx gases, which cause respiratory problems and trigger smog production.

Patents filed last week show how the novel coating works. The paint’s base is polysiloxane, a silicon-based polymer. Embedded in it are spherical nanoparticles of titanium dioxide and calcium carbonate 30 nanometres wide. Because…

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